Canada Charts Bold Middle Power Path in Fractured World Order: Carney Declares End of Illusions at Davos

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney used a keynote address at the World Economic Forum to deliver a blunt assessment of the geopolitical moment, declaring that the post-war international rules-based order has collapsed and calling on middle powers like Canada to confront the new reality with clarity and resolve.

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Speaking under the theme “Principled and Pragmatic: Canada’s Path,” Carney warned that the world had entered an era where the strongest states no longer feel constrained by international law or multilateral institutions, using economic integration as a weapon and coercive tool. “We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition,” Carney said.

He argued that middle powers are not helpless in the face of rising great power rivalry, but must stop “living within the lie” of a functional rules-based system. 

Borrowing from Czech dissident Václav Havel’s 1978 essay The Power of the Powerless, Carney likened current global compliance with dysfunctional systems to the ritual compliance of citizens under totalitarian regimes. “It is time for countries to take their signs down,” he said.

Carney’s address marked a clear shift in tone from previous Canadian leadership, positioning Ottawa not as a passive beneficiary of a fading order but as an active architect of a new one. 

He emphasized Canada’s strategic pivot towards “values-based realism”—a doctrine that combines unwavering commitment to principles like sovereignty and human rights with pragmatic engagement based on mutual interests.

He noted that Canada is building domestic economic strength through tax reforms, investment liberalization, and a trillion-dollar strategy across energy, AI, critical minerals, and trade corridors. 

The country is doubling defence spending by 2030 and securing partnerships to deepen its global footprint.

Carney cited new strategic deals signed with China and Qatar in recent days, and ongoing negotiations with India, ASEAN, Mercosur, and others. 

Canada has also joined Europe’s SAFE procurement framework and signed 12 other trade and security deals across four continents in the last six months.

Canada, he said, is not relying on “naive multilateralism” or diminished institutions but is building “issue-based coalitions” with like-minded nations on critical areas such as Ukraine, Arctic sovereignty, AI governance, and critical minerals supply chains. 

On Arctic matters, Carney reaffirmed Canada’s support for Greenland and Denmark, and its opposition to US tariff threats. “Our commitment to Article 5 is unwavering,” he said.

Carney outlined Canada’s efforts to lead plurilateral trade initiatives that connect the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the European Union, aiming to create a new bloc of 1.5 billion people. 

He said Canada is also leading G7-backed “buyers’ clubs” on critical minerals to reduce dependency on concentrated global suppliers.

He emphasized that Canada’s foreign policy is now aligned not just with its values but also with a more diversified and resilient economic foundation that allows it to take “principled stands” without fear of retaliation. 

“Countries earn the right to principled stands by reducing their vulnerability,” he said.

Carney concluded by urging other middle powers to abandon illusions about the global system and to act collectively. “Middle powers must act together because if you are not at the table, you are on the menu,” he said. 

“We should not allow the rise of hard power to blind us to the enduring strength of legitimacy, integrity, and rules—if we choose to wield them together.”

Calling the current moment a “rupture” rather than a passage, Carney declared: “The old order is not coming back. We should not mourn it. Nostalgia is not a strategy. But from the fracture, we can build something better, stronger, and more just.”